Wildlife Promise » National Squirrel Appreciation Dayhttp://blog.nwf.org
The National Wildlife Federation's blogFri, 31 Jul 2015 19:00:24 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Weekly News Roundup: 2015 is the Year for Wildlife and morehttp://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/weekly-news-roundup-2015-is-the-year-for-wildlife-and-more/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/weekly-news-roundup-2015-is-the-year-for-wildlife-and-more/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 15:37:19 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=103383In the 2015 State of the Union Address, President Obama issued his strongest call for climate action yet. Openly supporting top climate scientists, the President reiterated his commitment to combat climate change. This is a pivotal moment for wildlife! With our President’s support, we are provided with new hope for protecting wildlife from the dangers of climate change!

Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“President Obama rightfully cheered solar and wind energy progress that’s fueling our economy while reducing pollution. The federal government and states must keep pushing to expand that progress this year as we tap America’s next energy frontier, offshore wind – with proper siting, a clean, reliable, wildlife-friendly energy source.”

“Clearly, Louisiana is facing a short-term budgetary crisis, but CPRA is tackling a much more serious long-term crisis. If we lose the fight against the forces of coastal erosion, we lose our homes, our coastal towns and cities, our jobs, and we devastate our local and national economy. We are in the very early stages of developing the long-term strategies we’ll need to fund the plan – and we have a long way to go. In the meantime, cutting CPRA’s program support is short-sighted and ill-advised.”

“It is our obligation as a nation to hold BP accountable and ensure that the money from these fines is spent transparently on conservation projects that restore the ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico for people and wildlife.”

NWF in the News:

“The court has the opportunity and responsibility … to hold BP fully accountable for the damage done to the Gulf and to assign the maximum penalty,” the National Wildlife Federation said in a joint statement with other groups.”

“Among the goals of CROWN, which stands for Charlotte, Reconnecting Ourselves with Nature, include inspiring more people to create wildlife habitats in their own backyards so Charlotte can become a nationally certified Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation in 2015.”

“Now that the court has determined the volume of the spill and found that BP’s actions were grossly negligent, it is time that BP accept responsibility,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The Gulf has waited long enough.”

“Converging forces in North Dakota are pushing the state to the forefront in conservationists’ efforts to protect fields and streams, according to Collin O’Mara, president of the National Wildlife Federation.”

“The point is that if the bill passes, the program will continue past the Obama administration, said Jordan Lubetkin, a spokesman on Great Lakes issues for the National Wildlife Federation. This bill will authorize a program that will stay on the national radar regardless of who is in the White House.”

“The effects of the oil spill are far from over and may not be fully known for years, or even decades, to come,” the National Wildlife Federation and other organizations said in a recent statement. “Now the court has the opportunity and responsibility to make it right, to hold BP fully accountable for the damage done to the Gulf and to assign the maximum penalty to BP for its gross negligence.”

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/weekly-news-roundup-2015-is-the-year-for-wildlife-and-more/feed/010 Nutty Facts to Make You Appreciate Squirrelshttp://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/10-nutty-facts-to-make-you-appreciate-squirrels/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/10-nutty-facts-to-make-you-appreciate-squirrels/#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 10:00:33 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=103240Why exactly is National Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21) so popular? Maybe it’s because squirrels are adorable, and extremely fun to watch. Maybe it’s the many hats they wear (not real hats — please don’t put hats on squirrels). What I mean is, they play a variety of roles, like acrobat, bandit, gardener, trickster and much more. I set out to discover why these creatures are worthy of their own day, and after you read the facts I found, you might just appreciate squirrels a little more.

1. Squirrels can find food buried beneath a foot of snow.

Food is important during the cold winter months for squirrels. It makes sense, therefore, that some species are able to smell food under a foot of snow. The squirrel will then dig a tunnel under the snow, following the scent to their (or another squirrel’s) buried treasure.

3. Squirrels may lose 25% of their buried food to thieves.

And that’s just from members of their own species! Scatter hoarders (squirrels with multiple caches of food) have a difficult time keeping an eye on all of their hidden food. Fellow squirrels or birds often take advantage of this for a free meal.

Squirrels can be rather sneaky, stealing nuts from fellow squirrels. This one spies over a fence in Pennsylvania, taken by Michaela Wolf.

4. They zigzag to escape predators.

When squirrels feel threatened, they run away in a zigzag pattern. This is an incredibly useful strategy to escape hawks and other predators. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work so well on cars. Consider slowing down and giving squirrels a brake!

Squirrels may also take cover when threatened. This red-tail hawk tries to get a squirrel out of a knot hole in a log, where it had taken refuge. Photo by National Willdife Photo Contest entrant Cara Litberg.

5. Squirrels may pretend to bury a nut to throw off potential thieves.

Squirrels have been observed engaging in “deceptive caching.” This is where a squirrel digs a hole and vigorously covers it up again, but without depositing the nut. It seems this is done to throw off potential food thieves.

A gray squirrel caught by a National Wildlife photo contest entrant in a typical pose that suggests they may be masters of theft as well as deceit.

Although January 21st has been recognized as National Squirrel Appreciation Day since 2001, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technologyhave carried squirrel appreciation way beyond a puny period of 24 hours. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, squirrels should be packing their bags for a major ego trip this January 21, thanks to Georgia Tech.

Hidden Resources

Research covered in National Wildlifemagazine almost five years ago showed that gray squirrels try to deceive one another when hiding food for the winter. They engage in misdirection to keep other squirrels from stealing their loot. Using this behavior as a model, researchers led by Ronald Arkin, a regents professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, have developed robots that deceive each other.

Arkin and his team began by reviewing biological research showing that squirrels gather acorns and store them in specific locations. Each animal patrols its hidden caches, routinely checking on them. When another squirrel shows up, the hoarding squirrel changes its behavior. Instead of checking true locations, it visits empty cache sites, trying to deceive the interloper.

Arkin and his Ph.D. student Jaeeun Shim implemented the same strategy in a robotic model, and the behaviors worked: The deceiving robot lured the “predator” robot to false locations, delaying the discovery of protected resources.

The research is funded by the Office of Naval Research, which suggests that the military may find ways to employ squirrel deception behavior. “This application could be used by robots guarding ammunition or supplies on the battlefield,” Arkin says. “If an enemy were present, the robot could change its patrolling strategies to deceive humans or another intelligent machine, buying time until reinforcements are able to arrive.”

Succor for Squirrels

Despite their military potential, let us not forget that squirrels are hungry little creatures struggling to survive in native habitat where we have built houses and places of business. While some of us may grapple with ways to keep squirrels out of our bird feeders, on Squirrel Appreciation Day perhaps we can relent and offer the bushy-tailed rodents a snack of truce. For those so inclined, here is a recipe that I, uh, borrowed from the website squidoo.com, which has not adopted the gray squirrel’s deceptive techniques for hiding goodies and which offers a lot of information on National Squirrel Appreciation Day.

Homemade Squirrel Cakes

What’s good for the birds is good for the . . .

Total Time: 24 hours

These tasty cakes for squirrels are less expensive than purchasing ready made squirrel food.

Ingredients

1/2 pound suet

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup oatmeal (uncooked)

3 cups birdseed

old pan

wooden spoon

muffin tins

plastic knife or old knife

Instructions

Melt the suet in an old pan until it becomes mushy and almost turns to liquid. It does not matter if it is a little lumpy.

Stir in the peanut butter and oatmeal using the wooden spoon over medium heat until the peanut butter becomes runny.

Add the birdseed 1 cup at a time until the mixture becoms difficult to stir. Do not let the mixture cool as you add the birdseed, because it will be too difficult to get it out of your pan.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tins filling to the top.

Let the mixture sit for about 24 hours. Use the plastic or old knife to pry the cakes out of the tins.

Place the little cakes around your yard and watch the squirrels go absolutely nutty over them.

No, we’re not kidding. There really is a National Squirrel Appreciation Day every January 21st. It’s time to honor these adorable mammals that scamper around cities, suburbs, parks, and forests all over the United States. We’ve made it easy for you! Check out these 7 ways for your family to celebrate them:

1. Get in the Mood

This attitude correction may be tough to do if you’re plagued by squirrels squatting in your attic or squirrels totally unbaffled by the baffle of your backyard bird feeder. But these animals definitely have a good side:

They plant a lot of seeds and nuts, dig up previously planted ones, and aerate your lawn with holes all at the same time.

They are the only wild mammals many kids will routinely see. And that should count for something!

2. Feed Them, and They Will Come

This holiday was founded in 2001 by wildlife rehabilitator Christy Hargrove of Asheville, North Carolina, who figured squirrels were running out of food sources about this time of year. So…

Loop a piece of chain on a nearby tree branch with an eye-screw at the end. Screw on an ear of dried field corn into the eye-screw. Get ready to replace the chewed-up cob after your family has watched the squirrels swing and sway while gobbling their dinner.

Have your child smear peanut butter on a pinecone and hang that up instead!

You can appreciate squirrels and still put them through their paces. Enroll your local squirrels in the Animal Olympics by creating an obstacle course. You know that they are going to get to your birdfeeder somehow; it might as well be entertaining. Need some inspiration? Check out this video:

Don’t panic, we’re talking about cameras here! Squirrels have crazy antics and abilities. They can jump 10 times the length of their bodies. They greet family members by nuzzling each others’ cheeks. They use their tails as blankets in winter, parachutes if they fall, and as signal flags to communicate whenever they want. Keep a camera handy. Perhaps you and your kids can capture some great action shots. Display your favorite photos on the fridge! Check out Trix for Great Pics to helping your budding photographer.

5. Give Thanks for Small Favors

The most common squirrel in the United States is the eastern gray squirrel, which averages a little over 16 inches and weighs about a pound. You’re lucky; it could be worse. The ratufa (ratufa indica), also known as the Indian giant squirrel of Southeast Asia, can grow up to 3 feet in length.

Susan E. Goodman currently writes the “Green Hour” features for NWF’s Your Big Backyard magazine. She is also an award-winning author of nonfiction books for children, including All in Just One Cookie andOn This Spot. To learn more about Susan and her books, visit www.susangoodmanbooks.com.